Lists the activities with a strategic impact that remain subject to national-participation and regulator approval under the Commercial Companies Law: security, defence and military activities, banks, exchange houses, finance companies and insurance, money printing, telecommunications, Hajj and Umrah services, Quran memorisation centres and fisheries, with a 5 plus 14 working-day approval procedure.
Cabinet Resolution No. 55 of 2021 is the list of activities with a strategic impact, the sectors in which foreign ownership of a UAE mainland company still depends on a federal regulator's approval and on conditions about national participation. It was issued on 30 May 2021 on the proposal of the Minister of Economy under the Commercial Companies Law then in force (Federal Law No. 2 of 2015 as amended), and Article 6 brings it into effect on 1 June 2021, the date on which the general removal of the foreign-ownership restriction took effect. It contains no repeal clause and remains the operative list under Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021.
Article 1 defines the Competent Authority as the emirate-level companies authority, the Regulatory Authority as the federal regulator for the sector, the Committee as the Committee of Activities with a Strategic Impact, the List and the Foreign Investor.
Article 2 sets out the List in two parts. Part 1 names the activities that require the regulator's approval and are subject to conditions on foreign and national participation in capital and board membership: security, defence and activities of a military nature (Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior); banks, exchange houses, finance companies and insurance (Central Bank of the UAE); money printing; telecommunications (the telecommunications regulator); Hajj and Umrah services (General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments); and Quran memorisation centres. Part 2 lists one activity with a required national participation of 100%: services related to fisheries.
Article 3 is the procedure. The foreign investor applies to the Competent Authority under the federal and local rules. The Competent Authority forwards a complete application to the Regulatory Authority within 5 working days. The Regulatory Authority decides within a maximum of 14 working days from receipt of the application or completion of its requirements; it may approve, fixing the national-participation percentage and any conditions, or reject. It notifies the Competent Authority, which gives effect to the decision when licensing the company.
Article 4 requires companies licensed in these activities to comply with all applicable laws in the State. Article 5 requires each Competent Authority to report to the Committee every three months on the strategic projects it has licensed and on any change in their ownership or shareholders, so later share transfers in these sectors are also watched.
For every activity not on the List, the position since 1 June 2021 is that no national participation is required and the licensing authority decides on ordinary terms. Status: in force, no amendment recorded.
Foreign investors, and companies with foreign shareholders, seeking a mainland licence or a change of ownership in security, defence and military activities, banking, exchange, finance and insurance, money printing, telecommunications, Hajj and Umrah services, Quran memorisation centres or fisheries services; the emirate licensing authorities and the sector regulators that decide those applications.
| Article 1 | Definitions: the Competent Authority is the emirate companies authority, the Regulatory Authority the federal sector regulator, the Committee the Committee of Activities with a Strategic Impact, and the Foreign Investor the applicant. |
| Article 2 | Part 1 of the List: security, defence and military activities, banks, exchange houses, finance companies and insurance, money printing, telecommunications, Hajj and Umrah services and Quran memorisation centres, each needing regulator approval and conditions on foreign and national participation. Part 2: fisheries services, with 100% national participation. |
| Article 3 | Procedure: application to the Competent Authority, forwarded to the Regulatory Authority within 5 working days of a complete application; the regulator approves with a national-participation percentage and conditions, or rejects, within 14 working days, and notifies the Competent Authority. |
| Article 4 | Companies licensed in strategic-impact activities must comply with all laws applicable in the State. |
| Article 5 | Every three months the Competent Authority reports to the Committee on the strategic projects it has licensed and on changes in their ownership or shareholders. |
| Article 6 | Published in the Official Gazette and in effect from 1 June 2021. |
This List is the first thing we check on a mainland formation for a foreign client, because it decides whether the client can own the company outright or must go through a regulator and accept an Emirati participation. For almost all our clients, trading, consultancy, technology, holding and services activities, the answer is that the List does not apply and 100% foreign ownership is available on ordinary licensing terms. Where a client touches a listed sector, most often a finance, exchange or insurance-related activity, we tell them at the outset that the Central Bank's approval and a participation percentage are part of the licence, and we plan the 5 plus 14 working-day regulator step into the timetable. Because Article 5 has the licensing authority report ownership changes in these sectors every quarter, we also treat a later share transfer in a listed activity as a regulated event rather than a routine amendment.
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